Jammu, Nov 20: Chief Secretary Dr Arun Kumar Mehta on Sunday had a whirlwind tour of the Jammu City. He visited different works taken up under Smart City projects and meant to add to the beauty and anesthetics of the heritage city.
The Chief Secretary was accompanied by Divisional Commissioner, Jammu; Commissioner JMC, Deputy Commissioner, Jammu; MD, Cable Car Corporation; Executive Director, Mabarak Mandi Heritage Society; Jt Commissioner, JMC and many other officers of Police and Civil administration.
On the occasion, Dr Mehta observed that the face of Jammu is going to change for better by June next year. “The city is fast changing its outlook and enhancing its value in terms of tourist appeal. The ongoing projects along with those under progress would give a massive facelift to the city and would emerge as a major tourist attraction,” he said.
The CS visited different project sites taken in hand under Smart City Mission and took stock of the progress of work and simultaneously passed on several directions for early completion of each of them.
At Mubarak Mandi, the Chief Secretary enjoined upon the officers to throw the completed portions of the heritage buildings open for public by mid December. He asked them to start the cultural and other folk activities in the complex depicting the rich history and traditions of Jammu.
On visiting the Tawi Barrage and River Front, Dr Mehta gave strict directions to complete the barrage by June next year and complete the work on first phase of Tawi River development by then. He also visited the Peer Kho Temple and Bahu Cable Car project and called for completing the project within a period of 6 months only.
At Bhag-i-Bahu, the Chief Secretary told the Divisional Commissioner to look into the possibility of combining the garden with the adjacent aquarium. He also went around the fort and temple area and called for taking measures to make it more appealing and developed.
The Chief Secretary visited other projects like multi-level parking at Panjtirthi and other ongoing developmental works in and around the city. He recalled that dozens of projects were completed in the past couple of years which along with the progressing ones are going to make Jammu one of the best places in the country.
The CS also asked for opening of Jambo Zoo to public in the month of January itself. He mentioned that the Semi-Ring Road project would be taken to its final completion in the month of April. He observed that these would be a major step towards making Jammu city more vibrant, citizen-friendly and congestion-free.
Dr Mehta recounted that projects like newly developed general bus stand, multi-level car parking cum commercial complex, vertical garden from Dogra Chowk to KC Chowk, Jammu-Akhnoor Expressway having the longest flyover in J&K, beautification of bridges, Prasad lighting of different religious complexes, introduction of electric buses, and other projects of city landscaping and beautification are going to make Jammu the most vibrant cities of the country.
JSCL is developing Tawi River front on the lines of the Sabarmati riverfront in Gujarat. The 7-kilometre-long long river front is proposed to be completed in two phases. Pathways would be constructed on both the sides (banks) of the river to provide easy access to the public, the Chief Secretary was informed.
